Aviation Partners & AirNav RadarBox: AIB Family Flights

Mario Trunz, AIB Family Flights CEO

This week, we sat down with Mario Trunz, CEO of AIB Family Flights, to talk about AIB Flights and how AIB benefits from their partnership with AirNav RadarBox. Continue reading our blog post to find out more!

1 - What is AIB Family Flights?

AIB Family Flights

Mario Trunz, CEO of AIB Family Flights: This was a project that initially started by documenting the A320 Family Test & Delivery Flights I used to have in a spreadsheet. As the project (and the Community) grew, I added and tracked the rest of the Airbus Family. The goal is to document the pre-delivery Flight testing by the Aircraft manufacturers as well as documenting Flights between Airlines - Lessor - Airline or Airline - Airline. Basically, flights in which no commercial passenger is sitting. In 2020 we expanded to document Boeing Test & Delivery Flights with BOE Family Flights. 

AIB Family Flights Website

MT: Without the amazing community behind it, none of the projects would be where it is today. We have got spotters on the ground on most of the Airbus or Boeing Final Assembly Lines, as well as typical locations where lessors send Aircraft for Paint, MRO, Freighter conversions, etc., by sending us photos and other helpful information. We also have people who help out by contributing carefully reviewed data that may not be on Flight Trackers. A huge THANK YOU to the community.

2 - How long has AIB Family Flights been using RadarBox data?

MT: We have been using RadarBox for a few years now. It's been a really useful platform that has some specific tracker data that other Flight Trackers don't show.

3 - How do AIB Family Flights benefit from this data? Do visitors use it? 

MT: An example of what makes RadarBox unique is the ability to see flights by hex code. The hex code is a unique ICAO 24-bit address (part of the aircraft's Certificate of Registration) used to identify the aircraft and broadcast by its Mode-S transponder. While many flight trackers wait until they have the actual registration of the aircraft in their database to show the flight information, we can still get flight data (on delivery flights, for example) for brand-new aircraft in which the registration isn't known yet, because RadarBox shows their flights by hex code automatically. This allows our visitors to have brand-new aircraft or flight information much quicker. They are also offering ADS-B captured meteorological data (Wind and Temperature), something that is very useful to get a near real-time look at the atmospheric profile while an aircraft departs or arrives for somebody who is into Flight Operations like me.

RadarBox.com Website

5 - How did you find out about RadarBox?

MT: I had known about AirNavSystems for a long time, back in the day when they made Desktop applications. Over time, I have seen them add web-based flight tracking and Satellite tracking. 

Mario also thanked AirNav RadarBox for the collaboration and partnership: "Thank you, RadarBox and team, for the support. One can clearly see that they are run by people who have a passion for aviation."

We at AirNav RadarBox wish AIB Family Flights all the best and look forward to collaborating and working with you on other projects!